7 Tips to Choose a Vendor for Building a Microservices Architecture

7 Tips to Choose a Vendor for Building a Microservices ArchitectureArtem Bebik

N-iX

2018-01-15T00:00:00+00:002018-01-15T04:15:52+00:00

A microservices architecture is a way to build an application using small, independent, interconnected services. This allows to boost scalability and speed up the development process. The approach to designing microservices differs greatly from creating a monolith architecture. Microservices pattern...

By Artem Bebik
• January 15, 2018

A microservices architecture is a way to build an application using small, independent, interconnected services. This allows to boost scalability and speed up the development process. The approach to designing microservices differs greatly from creating a monolith architecture. Microservices patterns are a distributed system calling for specific techniques. Only qualified specialists can deal with such challenges as maintenance of multiple connections and micro-databases. Therefore, hands-on experience is crucial for successful implementation of such solution.

There are a number of software development vendors capable of building a microservices architecture and then maintaining it efficiently. How to find the best dedicated development team for your business needs? Check out our list of points to consider.

1. Diverse technological expertise

Microservices are a new approach to software design. It is actively gaining ground, so you can find a lot of programmers who are aware of the concept and are well-versed in its theoretical aspects. However, there are few software developers who have hands-on experience, which is crucial to the success of a project. Every company has unique business needs and engineering tasks. So microservices implementation can considerably vary in practice.

Not only will such competence allow you to build an application with the microservices architecture but it will also enable you to combine it with other architectural patterns. For instance, the combination of a monolith with microservices is often implemented by enterprises with legacy software that want to make a smooth transition to a more efficient software design.

2. Experience in your industry

It is no less important to find a software development vendor that has proven experience in your industry. The microservices architecture is a pattern. Your outsourced developers need to understand which functions the services are developed for. So to build an efficient solution, it is essential to understand the business logic.

While checking the portfolio of an outsourcing vendor, pay special attention to the projects within your industry or related domains. For instance, if you operate in the finance sector and want to launch a modern omnichannel application, you should look for both microservices proficiency and fintech development expertise.

3. Cloud solutions development

Microservices are a cloud-native technology. Therefore, the usage of cloud is normally required when building the microservices architecture. In addition, cloud offers such benefits as flexibility, robust data recovery, decreased infrastructure costs, and increased collaboration within a company.

However, keep in mind the disadvantages of cloud computing, especially security and privacy issues. Make sure that an outsourcing company you choose to build microservices is experienced in maintaining clouds and dealing with their drawbacks.

4. Agile mindset

The need to migrate to microservices often arises when the dedicated development team gets too big. As a result, it slows down and it takes more and more time to implement new features. In addition, it’s difficult to scale such a team further.

Microservices need to be developed in small agile teams. So, choose a vendor with adopted agile culture and be ready to give autonomy to your software developers. If you already have a big dedicated team working on your product, be ready to reorganize it into several agile teams and make them more independent. Also, your nearshore provider should have experience in delivering such projects. Company management should be able to synchronize the work of all your teams and scale them when needed.

5. Building a long-term partnership

A microservices architecture is always highly customized. It requires solid understanding of the product and the business logic. So changing a vendor in the middle of the project or switching one team to another will be distressing and costly.

First of all, consider established IT providers that have been on the market for a while. Look for the companies that understand the importance of accumulated knowledge for the success of the project and know how to build long-term partnerships. Also, they should have a positive employer image and enough capacities to scale up your dedicated team.

6. Post-launch support

The knowledge of your microservices architecture is especially valuable due to its custom-made structure. Your outsourced developers accumulate this expertise while building your application, and it is very important for proper maintenance of your product. So make sure that your outsourced team offers full post-launch support.

To increase efficiency and avoid risks during releases of new functionality, they should also be able to automate the release process. Moreover, the team that knows they would be responsible for solution support, will try to foresee and mitigate as many risks as possible. They will protect it against security breaches and vulnerabilities, and they will think about its scalability from day one.

7. Project case studies on microservices

A case study is a good proof of the vendor’s expertise and real experience. So never forget to check out the delivered projects. Apparently, vendors might not disclose a lot of specific details about the solution architecture and even the technologies used. But if they present the case studies involving miscroservices, you can take a glimpse into their real projects and then request more information.

Takeaway

Hiring good engineers that have expertise in the latest technologies like microservices is always a challenge. And finding a reliable software development vendor that can gather a whole team of such programmers is even more difficult. There are a lot of IT outsourcing providers so you should establish clear criteria for choosing a partner. Consider their technological stack, successfully delivered projects, ability to build long-term partnerships and scale your dedicated team when needed, and don’t forget about hands-on experience in building a microservices architecture. Or just contact our experts, and we’ll help your gather the dedicated team you need.

About N-iX

N-iX is an Eastern European provider of software development
services with 900+ expert software engineers onboard that power innovative technology businesses. Since
2002 we have formed strategic partnerships with a variety of global industry leaders
including OpenText, Novell, Lebara, Currency Cloud and over 50 other medium and
large-scale businesses. With delivery centers in Ukraine and Poland, we deliver
excellence in software engineering and deep expertise in a range of verticals
including finance, healthcare, hospitality, telecom, energy and enterprise content
management helping our clients to innovate and implement technology
transformations.